Phoenix Conservatory of Music Awarded National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award

Berklee City Music is pleased to announce that on the evening of November 9, 2017, the Phoenix Conservatory of Music — a longstanding partner of Berklee City Music Network and PULSE — was granted the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program (NAHYP) Award in Washington D.C.

PCM students Marcus Wolf (16), Lourde Childs (13), and Michael Rodriguez (15) were representatives of Phoenix Conservatory of Music at the event, travelling from Arizona to the Nation’s Capital to find out that their organization’s College Prep Program is an awardee for the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. Childs and Rodriguez gave a stunning performance of Man In The Mirror recorded by Michael Jackson on live TV, which was observed by the Phoenix community at a viewing party that evening.

The NAHYP Award is the highest honor in the country that can be given to an out of school arts program. There were only 12 awardees chosen from a pool of 350 nominations from 46 states. Recipients of this award are recognized as the most outstanding programs in the country for providing creative youth development programs, exemplifying how arts and humanities outside of school enrich the lives of young people by teaching new skills, nurturing creativity, and building self-confidence.

The Phoenix Conservatory of Music offers a high quality music education to hundreds of students each year, with programs ranging from introductory-level music to advanced private lessons and the most prestigious College Prep Program for contemporary music education in the Arizona — the Berklee College of Music’s City Music and PULSE programs. The affordable and accessible program has provided a path for students to achieve their dreams in music since its outset in 2010. Students in grades 4-12 are provided with weekly private lessons, music theory classes, and Popular Music Ensembles. PCM has a graduation rate of 95% (compared to 86% in the local community and 77% in the state), and a 71% rate of students who go to a college or university. 43% of those students go on to study music professionally.